With New Casino, A Big Bet on Springfield

The gaming room at MGM Springfield.

Hanging conspicuously in the middle of the new MGM Resorts International casino here is a massive framed picture from 1888, showing every member of the Free and Accepted Masons Lodge, Springfield Commandery #6.

It is a sea of stone-faced men with comically wild facial hair, an image that is at once fascinating and weird. And yet it fits the offbeat décor of the state’s first resort casino, which is brimming with appreciative nods to the city’s history and curious fragments from the past.

This Wednesday, Aug. 15, 2018, photo shows the MGM Springfield casino's front facade on Main Street in Springfield, Mass. The casino is scheduled to open to the public on Aug. 24. (AP Photo/Charles Krupa)

Instead, two modest signs bearing the MGM initials are set against a backdrop of low-slung brick and stone facades meant to blend with — not dominate — the historic streetscape of this storied but struggling New England city.

"That's the thing we're most proud of," said company president Bill Hornbuckle before casino officials... (Read More)

Rise Up Springfield "Streetwise MBA" graduates participating in the ceremony.

SPRINGFIELD, Mass. Twelve local business owners graduated from Rise Up Springfield's "Streetwise MBA" program Tuesday evening.

"Streetwise MBA" gives small business owners the knowledge needed to continue to grow in Springfield.

The six month program connected the entrepreneurs with local experts, and introduced them to the tools and tactics needed to more effectively run their businesses, and set them up for long term growth… (Read More)

06/12/2018 -- SPRINGFIELD -- Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker describes his administration's economic development agenda Tuesday at the Economic Development Council of Western Massachusetts. ( Jim Kinney/ The Republican)

SPRINGFIELD -- Gov. Charlie Baker spoke before a large audience of business executives and property developers Tuesday at the MassMutual Center, but at times he was talking to just two men.

SPRINGFIELD -- The Phoenix Awards Institute has recognized Springfield Union Station as the best example of brownfield redevelopment in the country for 2017.

U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, the driving force behind the station's $95-million rehabilitation into a modern intermodal transportation hub, gathered Monday with city officials to celebrate the award… (Read More)

The prototype Orange Line cars represent a step toward greater reliability and frequency of service for the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.

What's more, the cars carry with them the hopes CRRC, the largest manufacturer of railroad rolling stock in the world, holds for expanding into the North American market.

The prototype cars going through "dynamic" -- meaning moving -- testing this month at the MBTA's Wellington station in Medford were built by CRRC in China.

But starting in April, Chinese-owned CRRC will start manufacturing the Orange cars at CRRC's new $95 million factory on Page Boulevard in East Springfield. Sometime at midyear the factory will start making... (Read More)

SPRINGFIELD --MassMutual announced plans Thursday for a major expansion in Massachusetts including a $300 million investment and 2,000 jobs to the Commonwealth over the next four years. Those 2,000 jobs include 1,500 at corporate headquarters in Springfield and 500 at a new Boston campus on Fan Pier, which the company plans to build.

The move comes amid a trend in Springfield where MassMutual has laid off hundreds in recent years and has moved jobs in its Barings subsidiary elsewhere… (Read more)

SPRINGFIELD -- The chairman of the Massachusetts Gaming Commission said Friday that he and other members are "thrilled" by MGM Springfield's track record on workforce diversity in hiring employees, contractors and vendors for its $960 million resort casino.

The comments from Gaming Commission Chairman Stephen Crosby came after commission staff gave glowing reports and statistics on diversity hiring during a meeting at the MassMutual Center in Springfield… (Read more)

SPRINGFIELD -- The chefs uniforms from MGM Springfield are starting to show up at Park Cleaners with stains.

The $960 million resort casino in the South End is complete and the Aug. 24 opening date is approaching. That means chefs are in their kitchens cooking and that means Park Cleaners, an 83-year-old family business in Springfield, is bracing for an onslaught of dirty laundry.

Park Cleaners, 262 Allen St., has a cleaning contract from MGM Springfield, part of what was expected to be $50 million a year in goods and services contracted by MGM from local businesses and suppliers. The list includes king-size mattresses from Yankee Mattress Factory in Agawam and Italian delicacies for hospitality gift baskets from Frigo's in the South End… (Read More)

Alex Dixon the General Manager of MGM Springfield, stands just outside the entrance to the hotel on Main Street, Springfield, which is nearly ready for prime time and the Aug. 24 opening.

That’s how many “discrete tasks” Alex Dixon said he and the ever-growing team at MGM Springfield must complete before the $950 million facility can open its doors to the public at 11 a.m. on Aug. 24.

12,704!

Not ‘more than 12,000.’ Not ‘12,700 or so.’

12,704. And you thought you had a lot of lines on your ‘to-do’ list.“And those are just the things we thought about as we put together our critical paths,” said Dixon, general manager of MGM Springfield, who managed to find a few moments to speak with BusinessWest late last month (and he had to work hard at it). He couldn’t say how many of those tasks he and his team had drawn a proverbial line through, but he hinted strongly that, while considerable progress has been made, there were still quite a few (thousand) to go… (Read more)

Bike Share station conveniently located in Court Square, Downtown Springfield.

SPRINGFIELD -- Have you tried ValleyBike Share?

The bicycle sharing system has been up and running since late June and ValleyBike Share bicycles are starting to crop up at docking stations around the region.

Have you tried one?

The Republican is interested in talking with customers. Was the bike easy to ride? Was the docking station in a convenient location? Was the bike easy to free from the docking station? Will you use ValleyBike Share often? (Read More)